Update 5/3/2022: The river has dropped below 683′ and boat wakes are once again allowed on the lower St. Croix.
Recent rains in the upper St. Croix River watershed have sent the highest water in more than two years down the river. On Saturday, May 14, the river reached 683 feet above sea level at Stillwater, triggering automatic no-wake status. As of publishing time on Monday, May 16, it was at 684.74 feet, and expected to rise another six inches or so.
Although it appears the river is near leveling off, is predicted to remain above no-wake level for at least the next week. It is not expected to reach flood levels.
Wakes are restricted during high water to prevent shoreline erosion, damage to docks and other property, and to promote safety.
This is the most water flowing past Stillwater as has been observed since April of 2020. Flow is currently measured at about 25,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). The highest it got during the drought of 2021 was 16,000 cfs.
Heavy rainstorms in the past week have caused the flooding, many of which clipped the lower St. Croix but dropped a lot of water on the higher reaches. At Wild River State Park, 10.69 inches of rain have fallen so far this year. At this time during the wettest year on record, in 2001, 14.27 inches had fallen.
The St. Croix River watershed is expected to get about another inch of rain in the next week.
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2 responses to “No wakes allowed on lower St. Croix due to high water [Cancelled 5/30]”
Thank you for this very informative article!
Nice use of graphics, as they say: “a picture is worth a 1000 words”!